Automatic analyzers are widely known in the field of clinical laboratory tests. Mechanisms that pipet the samples, reagents, and preprocessing liquids used for these kinds of analytical operations, have traditionally been divided into several types according to purpose, such as for sample use, for reagent use, and for preprocessing liquid use. Sample sucking/discharging positions in these sampling mechanisms (in other words, pipetting mechanisms) are fixed, irrespective of the kind and purpose of analysis requested. Pretreating a sample refers to mixing the sample with a preprocessing liquid before starting the analysis to render the sample analyzable. The use of a preprocessing liquid to dilute a sample for reduced concentration also allows relative reduction in the consumption of the reagents used for causing reactions.
Automatic analyzers equipped with a preprocessing disk to pipet such a preprocessing liquid are described in, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4.
Prior Art Literature
Patent Documents
Patent Document 1: JP-1996-101216-A
Patent Document 2: JP-1995-098320-A
Patent Document 3: JP-1993-080059-A
Patent Document 4: JP-1991-25368-A